My favorite summer camping items
Hey there!
We’re getting towards the end of the summer camping season, and I’ve come up with a new list of my “can’t live (aka camp) without” items.
Many of these have also become staples in my actual house during the summer. So they’re not just used for camping.
So if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you may have seen that I signed up to be a VIP member at an awesome company called Grove Collaborative. This isn’t an ad…actually none of this post is…I just love the service and the products. I signed up with a code I was given and received 5 free gifts just for signing up. The products are great and cheaper than Amazon or Target from what I’ve found. If you want to check it out, use this code to sign up and get a gift!
www.grove.co/referrer/12798780/
One of the products I found from there is Murphy’s Naturals incense sticks and candles. Living the “O Negative Mosquito” lifestyle, I find myself with welts from mosquito bites after a weekend (or walk to the car) outside. These sticks and candle save my skin. Even Bougie Daddy has bought into the fact that the actually work. We literally light them all around us when we are in our chairs and we’re good.
https://www.grove.co/catalog/product/mosquito-repellent-candle/?v=2617&attrsrc=18&attrpg=catalog
So once the incense goes out and I don’t realize it, I get the bites. This stuff saves the day. The Don’t Bite Me cream smells like old skool incense that we burned in college while listening to Pink Floyd, so my kids always say, “What’s that smell?” However, it works. Winner winner.
Another Grove product is this Caldrea spray in Pear Blossom Agave. The smell is amazing. I bought it for the house and even bought dryer sheets in this scent because I am all kinds of obsessed. Here the spray is from Amazon if you have no interest in ordering from Grove…click here
If you have any interest in being comfortable in your outdoor chair you need this one. Bougie Daddy got me this as a Mother’s Day present and it has not disappointed in the least. It has an umbrella that you can move to either side and put at different angles. The leg rest is AWESOME. There is a cup holder, a cooler in the armrest, a spot for your phone and a bottle opener attached to the seat. Score. It also folds up really nice. It reclines, but I hate sitting like that so I have yet to use that feature.
The next thing has nothing to do with camping and everything to do with happy kids. Glow sticks with all the connectors keep the kids busy for hours. These big boxes of them have a lot of connectors so everyone gets something special. The newest craze at the campgrounds is the kids putting these in the spokes of their bikes and ride at night. They have so much fun!
This product I found in Delaware in a little store last year when I went on an anniversary trip and got some pretty bad sunburn. Save My Skin spray is a light spray that smells a little like lavender, goes on like water, and really takes the burn out of my skin after a few hours too long in the sun. They have a Save Your Hair spray that we got last year for Bougie Daughter. Her hair gets fried after a day in the salt water.
I was mad…I mean MAD when I realized that my I had left my favorite utensil holder in the old camper when we turned it in. So, I had to purchase another one. This holds all my plastic forks, knives, and spoons, plates, napkins, and cups. It’s so easy to bring in and out of the camper. Or, if we’re eating inside it stays right on the table neatly. This would be a great backyard item if you eat outside.
I’m a flip flop girl all summer. (These are my go-to faves…Havaianas) At the end of the night, I like to shower and put on sweats (so the mosquitos don’t attack me) and socks before I go out to the fire. I don’t do sneakers in the summer unless I am actually hiking or working out. So I bought these Adidas slides for quick slip on at night or around the camper.
I had to teach my kids how to “properly” exit the shower without getting water EVERYWHERE. However, they still aren’t so swift with it yet and I needed a quick drying mat for the bathroom. I went through several to find the right one. Luckily, I found this quick drying mat that works great. It has a grippy bottom so I don’t have to worry about slips either. This one is coming in the house in the winter.
As a self-proclaimed germaphobe, I have issues with sponges. If they lay flat, they smell gross to me and I go through them weekly. We have a double sink in the camper and I found this sink caddy in gray and white. I wish I had the same sink setup in my house because I would have two…
One of the things we wanted that we gave up on with this new camper was an outdoor kitchen. I really wanted a little setup out there because we cook outside so often. So instead, I searched for some kind of caddy to bring all the stuff in and out of the camper in one trip. I stumbled upon this plastic tote and thought it would work great. I didn’t read the size and when it arrived I was laughing my butt off…it’s big. But, it’s perfect for what we need it for. I can load it up with condiments, extra plates, papertowels…whatever I need to bring out in one shot. (I’m the kind of girl who would rather break both arms than make two trips for something…just thought that should be noted here.)
The last two items are truly what make us bougie campers.
This ice maker is awesome. It makes ice quickly and quietly and saves us from buying all kinds of ice for drinks at campsites. Enough said.
We had a percolator coffee pot and then a french press in the old camper…which we loved. But sometimes we didn’t feel like making a whole pot. So we splurged on a Keurig coffee maker. I got an amazing deal on Amazon for a white one. I was worried that it would get stained or look dirty after a while but it cleans very well. It also has a filter which is a must at the campgrounds.
“These are a few of my favorite thingsssssss…”
Hoping to pay it forward for those who are creating their own camping (or house or outdoor) spaces and are looking for some tried and true products.
~The Bougie Camper
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